Bond to miss SA match
Mumbai, October 15
New Zealand suffered a major setback today when their pace spearhead Shane Bond was ruled out of their first Champions Trophy match against South Africa tomorrow.

Delhi Police seeks details from SA
New Delhi, October 15
After an intensive interrogation of South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs in the six-year-old match fixing case by the top officers of the Delhi Police, they have sought complete details from the South African Cricket Board of all matches played by its team in 1999.

New Delhi, October 15
The lean and mean brigade from Kenya and other African countries dominated the Delhi Hutch Half Marathon here today.
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Gulshan Grover, Tina Ambani and Juhi Chawla take part in the Delhi Half Marathon in the Capital on Sunday.
— Tribune photo by Rajeev Tyagi

National hockey returns to Punjab
Chandigarh, October 15
Hockey is all set to stage a comeback in Punjab but not the supremacy the state once enjoyed on the national scene some two decades ago.

Sehgal Studs win polo title
Chandigarh, October 15
Patiala Sehgal Studs defeated the Taragarh team by one-and-a-half goals in the final of the Punjab Polo Season-2006 to lift the Patiala Cup at Patiala today.
In a keenly contested match which ended in an exciting climax, Patiala Sehgal Studs, led by Angad Singh, scored seven-and-a-half-goals, while the Taragarh team, led by Gurpal Singh, got six.

Jeev finishes tied 21st
Kawagoe, October 15
Jeev Milkha Singh was sitting pretty atop the leaderboard after a scintillating opening round but a steady slump in form saw the Indian eventually finish tied 21st with his second successive round of three-over 74 in the final round of the Japan Open here today.

Mumbai, October 15
New Zealand suffered a major setback today when their pace spearhead Shane Bond was ruled out of their first Champions Trophy match against South Africa tomorrow.

Bond, coming out of an injury layoff, was declared unfit for the match due to stiffness in his back developed during a warm-up match against Baroda on Friday, a team official said.

New Zealand, playing international cricket after seven months, are relying heavily on their pace attack in the tournament.

Meanwhile, the fact that the city witnessed rain during the qualifying phase of the tournament last week suggests the pitch would not be as batsman-friendly as one can expect them when the matches are held in March or April.

Batting appears to be a little difficult at the Brabourne Stadium, seeing big-time cricket after more than a decade, in the hot and humid conditions as both Sri Lanka and the West Indies found out in their last qualifying match yesterday.

Sri Lanka registered an emphatic nine-wicket margin after bundling out title holders Caribbeans for a paltry 80.

The bowler-friendly wicket here looks more probable for the New Zealand-South Africa tie than one on which the batsmen can simply plank their front foot and whack the ball through the line as is generally the case on Indian wickets in ODIs.

That the damage in the West Indies innings, which folded up inside 31 overs, was done by pace bowlers led by Farveez Maharoof, indicates the new-ball bowlers would have a significant say in tomorrow’s match, though New Zealand spinners Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel can create some problems, too.

Both New Zealand and South Africa have a strong pace department. In the absence of Shane Bond, one of the world’s fastest bowlers on view, the Kiwis have rookie Wellington bowler Mark Gillespie, a 26-year-old on whom the team depends to bowl in the death overs, left-armer James Franklin and Kyle Mills.

New Zealand, who have come here after a seven-month rest following their 4-1 win against the West Indies at home in March, might be a bit rusty and their batting revolves around captain Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle, one of the biggest hitters but who lacks consistency.

South Africa also did not have any international cricket after March barring a short three-match series against struggling Zimbabwe.

South Africa won 3-0 under the leadership of all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who is coming here after an injury layoff and would be keen to celebrate his 31st birthday tomorrow with a match-winning performance.

South Africa have a better head-to-head record (27 wins out of 45) as well as win-loss record on neutral venues (62-29 as compared to New Zealand’s 59-73).
— PTI

New Delhi, October 15
After an intensive interrogation of South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs in the six-year-old match fixing case by the top officers of the Delhi Police, they have sought complete details from the South African Cricket Board of all matches played by its team in 1999.

In an efforts to carry forward the investigation in the wake of Gibbs’ reported admission that he was aware of the fixing of matches played under late South African captain Hansie Cronje, the police has also sought details of late captain’s bank accounts from the South African authorities, sources today said.

They said the request for furnishing the information, has been made through diplomatic channel by the Union Home Ministry in coordination with the External Affairs Ministry.

Cronje, who died in a plane crash in South Africa, Gibbs and another player Nicky Boje had been named as accused in the case by the Delhi Police in an FIR registered in 2000 after it had recorded the conversation of the former with bookie, Sanjeev Chawla about fixation of matches for payment of money.

Chawla had fled the country after the scandal came to light and the police had issued an alert about him.

The police had also sought details of Chawla’s bank accounts, if any, in South Africa. He suspected to be hiding in the UK after fleeing India.

Sources said that the Police is seeking to examine the entire details of Cronje’s bank accounts for ascertaining the money transactions into them during 1999, specially after the World Cup and also details of transactions into the accounts of Chawla between 1996 and 2000.

Besides, the South African authorities had been requested to furnish details of the telephone calls received and made by Cronje during the relevant period, they said.

Gibbs during nearly three-hour long interrogation by the Delhi Police on October 12, had reportedly told the investigators that Cronje had asked some of the players to throw certain one-day matches between 1996 and 2000.

Kenya’s Lineth Chepkirui
(left) and her compatriot Francis Kibiwott hold the trophies
after winning the women’s and men’s titles, respectively, of
the Delhi Half Marathon in the Capital on Sunday. —
PTI/Reuters

New Delhi, October 15
The lean and mean brigade from Kenya and other African countries dominated the Delhi Hutch Half Marathon here today. Francis Kibiwott and Lineth Chepkirui of Kenya won the men’s and women’s titles, respectively.

The Kenyan runners set the Delhi roads ablaze with their measured pounding and chest beats as they powered past the rest of the field to show their supremacy in marathon running on a searingly hot day.

Kibiwott ran with steady strides to complete the distance of 21.097 km in 1 hour, 1 minute and 36 seconds to better Russian Philip Rugut’s course record by 18 seconds. Defending champion Rugut not only lost his title, but also finished outside the medal bracket at the fourth place.

Close on Kibiwott’s heels was Cuthbert Nyasngo of Zimbabwe, who clocked 1:02:30 to claim the silver, while John J Korir of Kenya timed 1:03.16 to finish third.

The 28-year-old Kibiwott, now settled in Holland and who was returning to the track after a year-long break due to injury, made light of a troubling knee to break away from the pack after the initial fury. He widened the gap as he closed in on the home stretch to hit the winning post comfortably.

Kibiwott pocketed $20,000, though he was a bit disappointed that he could not go full blast, and had to slow down at times due to a niggling knee injury.

Still, he was surprised with the ease in which he ran the race and won the title. In fact, he was happy that he had done remarkably well after the injury layoff. Before coming to Delhi, he had tasted success at Luxemburg and Amsterdam and the win here has helped him achieve a hat-trick.

In the women’s section, too, the gold and bronze medals were bagged by Kenyan runners. Lineth Chepkirui claimed the top prize when she clocked 1:10:40 to finish well ahead of Erkesso Teriba of Ethiopia, who timed 1:11:22 for the silver. Kenya’s Dire Tune (1:11:35) won the bronze.

Defending champion Irina Timofeyeva of Russia was relegated to the fourth position as she failed to match the speed and power of the African girls.

Eighteen-year-old Lineth Chepkirui was slow off the blocks, but she gained pace along the way and overtook the pack after about 10 km. She earned $ 15,000, but more than the money what mattered most to her was her coming of age and making it big among the senior runners.

With the African runners ruling the roost after they set off from the Nehru Stadium in the morning, the others could at best hope to be only among the also-rans as there was no ghostly chance for them to win medals. And the Indian runners were some of the weakest as their timings were far too slow to create any impact.

Among the Indian men, Ram Singh Yadav’s 18th position was the best. He posted a time of 1:06:52 to set a record. Among Indian women, Pampa Chanda was the best, clocking 1:21:47 to create a course record.

Chandigarh, October 15
Hockey is all set to stage a comeback in Punjab but not the supremacy the state once enjoyed on the national scene some two decades ago.

While the Punjab Hockey Association has grabbed the opportunity by offering to host the National Hockey Championship for Rangaswamy Cup at Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Bhaini Sahib from October 20 to November 3 this year, it may not be enough to see the state team on the victory pedestal it last occupied in Meerut immediately after the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi.

The hosts Punjab have been placed in pool A with Universities, Maharashtra, Bihar and Chattisgarh while Chandigarh will be in pool D with Hyderabad, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Uttaranchal.

Himachal Pradesh gets into pool E with Indian Airlines, Jharkhand, and Nagaland. Haryana figures in pool H with Services, Kerala and Mizoram. Two teams from each of the eight pools will qualify for the second round robin league-cum-knockout round.

Of the affiliate members, Punjab and Sind Bank, Central Industrial Security Force and Customs have been placed in pool A while Air-India, Namdharis and Indian Oil are in pool B, C and D, respectively. For the associate members, event which will be staged simultaneously in New Delhi from October 20 to 24. Only the winners of each of the four pools of the associate members will qualify for the main event in Punjab.

The super league would be in Jalandhar from October 28 to 31. The semifinals and final would also be played in Jalandhar on November 2 and 3, respectively.

Though the credit to get the national championship back in Punjab after 25 years goes to Punjab Hockey Association chief S.S. Virk and its secretary Hardeep Singh Dhillon, yet it may not indicate anything more than reviving the sport with which people of this region had been passionately associated since its introduction in the country in early 20th century.

The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) must thank the Punjab Hockey Association for coming to its rescue at a time when all its sponsors were leaving it after the national team finished a poor 11th in the last World Cup at Munchengladbach in Germany last month. Even the sponsors of the Premier Hockey League were reportedly considering backing off their continuous sponsorship of the elite tournament till Punjab stepped in and brought in sponsors for the national championship for next five years.

“It is important for us to see hockey back in its glory,” remarked Mr Virk here this afternoon maintaining that the state would do its best to make this national event a success.

“It will help us revive the club hockey in the state as well as enthusing youngsters to take to this sport which once enjoyed the rapport of being the national sport of the country. We know it has its own inherent problems. But we are doing all we can do to revive the interest in the sport with which Punjabis have unflinching affinity,” said Mr Virk.

The last time Punjab staged the national championship was in Jalandhar in 1981 and the last title the state won was in 1982 in Meerut after the Asian Games debacle in New Delhi where India got a drubbing at hands of Pakistan.

Mr Kuku Walia will be the technical delegate and he will be assisted by Mr Raheja of Punjab and Sind Bank as assistant technical delegate. Only international umpires will supervise the conduct of the championship in which at some stages even third umpire would also be used.

For the hosts Punjab, the main challenge will be to find good players. In the absence of any job avenues, many of its up coming players have been seeking employment with other institutional teams. The latest to desert Punjab was forward Tejbir Singh.

The National Championship may prove crucial for Jugraj Singh as well as Sandeep Singh who have unfortunately been kept out of prestigious international events because of injuries.

Chandigarh, October 15
Patiala Sehgal Studs defeated the Taragarh team by one-and-a-half goals in the final of the Punjab Polo Season-2006 to lift the Patiala Cup at Patiala today.

In a keenly contested match which ended in an exciting climax, Patiala Sehgal Studs, led by Angad Singh, scored seven-and-a-half-goals, while the Taragarh team, led by Gurpal Singh, got six.

The winning team took the lead in the third minute of the match’s first chukker, with a goal scored by Bashir Ali. Till the match neared its conclusion, the score was five-and-a half goals against five.

It was in the last two minutes that Patiala Sehgal Studs scored two goals, while Taragarh managed to notch one more.

Six teams participated in the Patiala Cup, including a joint team from the Remounts and Veterinary Corps and Army Service Corps and a team from the Navy. The Army’s 61 Cavalry Regiment fielded two teams, Cavalry Red and Cavalry Green.

Earlier, an exhibition match was played between Patiala Cubs and Ankush Tigers, in which the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, also participated. Patiala Cubs won by a solitary goal.

General Officer Commanding 2 Corps, Lt-Gen VK Singh was the chief guest at the concluding ceremony. Trick riding by 61 Cavalry, show jumping by students of Punjab Public School, Nabha, traditional display by nihangs, Army band display and a fireworks show were the other events organised.

Gurgaon, October 15
NP Pradeep’s brilliant brace powered title contenders Kerala to a facile 3-1 win over Tamil Nadu in a Group B quarterfinal league match of the 61st Santosh Trophy football tournament here today.

Pradeep broke the deadlock in the 50th minute through a flying header after team-mate Abdul Naushad had put his team ahead in the 13th minute and Tamil Nadu’s Kuluthungan equalised in the 25th minute. Pradeep finally put it beyond Tamil Nadu’s reach in the 78th minute through a solo effort.

Kerala had a slight advantage in an evenly contested first half as they used both flanks well and Naushad and Abdul Hakim threatened the Tamil Nadu defence.

Tamil Nadu forwards were not well fed by the midfielders. Kuluthungan and Raman Vijayan could not test Kerala goalkeeper Jean Christian.

Naushad drew first blood with the help of captain Abdul Hakim. Tamil Nadu, however, equalised from a set-piece. Pradeep regained the lead for his side in the second half. Pradeep struck again to round off the tally in the 78th minute.
— UNI

Kawagoe, October 15
Jeev Milkha Singh was sitting pretty atop the leaderboard after a scintillating opening round but a steady slump in form saw the Indian eventually finish tied 21st with his second successive round of three-over 74 in the final round of the Japan Open here today.

Arjun tied 28th

Sanya (CHINA): Arjun Singh returned his worst card of the week and his final round of one-over 73 saw the Indian finishing tied 28th in the Volkswagen Masters here on Sunday.

Chopra lies 3rd

Las Vegas: Daniel Chopra waded through heavy traffic and flooded streets to barely make his tee time and then shot a flawless eight-under 64, the best round of the day, to be the clubhouse leader at 15-under at Fry.com Open golf
tournament. — UNI, PTI

BRIEFLY

World champion Lin Dan of China plays a return to Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia during the men’s singles final of the Japan Open badminton tournament in Tokyo on Sunday. Lin won
16-21, 21-16, 21-3. — AFP

India, Pak to play tennis series
Lahore: Pakistan tennis team led by Aisam Qureshi will play a series against India next month in the lead up to the Doha Asian Games.

The series would begin with the first leg in Islamabad on November 5 and Pakistan would field their Asian Games team of Aisam, Aqeel Khan, Asim Shafik and Nomi Qamar, The News reported.
Pakistan recently lost 2-3 to India in the Davis Cup World Group play-offs for Asia Oceania region in Mumbai.
— UNI

In a closely-contested second match, Government Girls School, Ranchi defeated Padma Raja Vidyalaya, Gwalior 3-2 also to make the last four grade.
— OSR

Soccer league
NEW DELHI: Raisina Sporting Club scored an emphatic 6-0 victory against Nivia Club in the Delhi Soccer Association Open Clubs League at the Air Force ground here Sunday.

Delhi Cantonment defeated Buddhist Blue Stars 2-0, Royal Bengal notched up their third consecutive victory when they downed Cosmos 2-1 while New Friends held Ashoka Club goalless.
— OSR

Keshav excels
Faridkot: Baba Farid Public School has created a history by bagging gold medal in the CBSE National Swimming Championship held at Nagpur from October 8-11 with its Class X student Keshav Thakur clinching first rank in 50m butterfly. He broke all previous records with a timing of 00:29:32 seconds. He won another gold medal in 50m freestyle apart from a bronze in 100m butterfly.
— TNS

Chinappa loses
New Delhi: Third seed Joshna Chinappa began with a bang but fizzled out in the end to crash out of the $6500 dollar Subway Goshen Open in Indiana, losing her semifinal match to second seeded Irish Aisling Blake.